ECE Distinguished Professor and Chair Yingying Chen is Named an AAAS FEllow
Since its founding in 1848, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has grown into a leading global multidisciplinary scientific society with a keen focus on advancing scientific excellence and achievement through a network of scientists and engineers in more than 90 countries.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Distinguished Professor and Chair Yingying Chen is among eight Rutgers researchers recently named to the newest class of AAAS Fellows—one of the most prestigious honors within the international scientific community.
Her selection as an AAAS Fellow recognizes the impact of her distinguished research in mobile computing, wireless sensing, and information security on computer science and information technology.
"Being elected an AAAS Fellow is both a humbling and meaningful recognition for me," says Chen. "Personally, it reflects the mentorship, collaboration, and support I've been fortunate to receive throughout my career. Professionally, it affirms the importance of advancing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI, wireless sensing, and cybersecurity to enable smarter and safer environments."
A Pioneering Researcher
As a trailblazing researcher, Chen pioneers how everyday wireless technologies can be transformed into powerful tools for sensing and security. Her research investigates how commonly used devices—such as smartphones, wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers, Wi-Fi routers, smart appliances, and connected vehicles—can go beyond simple communication to enable intelligent sensing and protection.
For example, her team has demonstrated that Wi-Fi signals can detect motion, recognize human activities, and pinpoint a person's location within a building. They can even be used to identify concealed hazards, such as weapons or volatile liquids hidden in luggage. These advances could enable a wide range of innovations, from nonintrusive health monitoring for older adults living independently to technologies that detect concealed threats in public spaces and improve driver safety by identifying distracted driving behaviors.
More recently, Chen has been instrumental in establishing a new field devoted to the ongoing exploration of innovative technologies able to combat and defend vulnerabilities in extended reality (XR), including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems.
The immersive systems are going to become woven into daily life; authentication has to be secure, continuous, and effortless. By uncovering and identifying privacy and security vulnerabilities in XR systems, Chen and her collaborators have discovered a new biometric: tiny vibrations generated by breathing and heartbeats that resonate through the skull in patterns unique to each person's bone structure and facial tissues. By utilizing in-built motion sensors in XR devices, her team can even monitor health indicators such as blood pressure and derive body mass index (BMI) without physical contact.
In addition to being an AAAS Class of 2026 Fellow, Chen is an Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) Fellow, an Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE Fellow, and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
